Dominos
by CraftAndBurn
Summary: Working Title. A mysterious group has an interest in Kurama. When he is forced to confront them, he learns that their request could impact not only himself and his friends, but everyone else too. With Yusuke oceans away, what can the team do?
1. Departure

**31/10/06 - A Very Long Author's Note: **_A fic that's not a oneshot... I'm kind of out of my depth here I think.__ Updates are going to be weird and erratic because of my workload… So sometimes Chapters'll go up really close together and sometimes it'll be ages between chapters. However, my biggest problem when writing long stories in the past was that I tended to plan too conscientiously so that I got obsessed with little details that might not have made perfect sense… I'm gonna try to look at the bigger picture this time. _

_Don't be surprised by weird author notes in future, sometimes author's notes will just be anecdotal, off-topic or just plain random. That's just how my head works. I've tried my best to include all the characters, though sometimes certain characters will stand out more than others… I'm aiming for everyone to have some importance in this story, or at least as many as possible. I'm done rambling now. _

**Chapter One**

"Thanks for coming to see us off, guys."

"As if we wouldn't!"

"Had to come watch you guys get on the plane, Urameshi! We've been waitin' for this long enough!"

"That keen to get rid of me, huh?"

Botan giggled and toyed with her hair playfully. "As if, Yusuke! I'm sure that's not what Kuwabara meant. We're all going to miss you!"

"We're gonna miss you too, Botan. Hey, look after Puu while I'm gone, right?"

"Of course!" Botan smiled and gestured to Kurama, who was holding the peculiar little bird-like creature, reverted to his smaller form so that he could come to the airport. "He's in safe hands!"

"Excited, Keiko?" Kurama asked pleasantly. Keiko was standing next to Yusuke, reading flight numbers from a screen hanging from the ceiling and looking for their boarding time. She glanced round at him and nodded, smiling.

"Of course. I can't wait!"

"How could ya _not_ be excited anyway?" Yusuke chimed in, grinning. "It's only-"

He was interrupted by a tannoy announcement. "_Would all passengers flying on the CI728 to Hong Kong International Airport please proceed to gate number 23, that's the CI7..."_

"That's us, Keiko!" Yusuke said excitedly, before starting to sing rather tunelessly, "We're going on a jet plane…"

"Thanks for everything, guys. We'll call you when we arrive at the airport."

"No worries-"

"Puu!"

"Shh, Puu, you're a stuffed animal, remember?"

"…Don't know when we'll be back aga- ow!! Keiko, what was that for?"

Keiko rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Yusuke, people are staring."

"They can stare all they want, they're just jealous… I'm the one who's goin' round the world with the most amazing new wife ever in the whole world. You didn't have to hit me…"

Keiko laughed. "Nice try, but the guilt trip isn't working. Come on!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him off towards the gate entrance.

"Bye, guys!"

"Bye, Yusuke!"

"Bye, Keiko!"

"Bye! Stay out of trouble while we're gone okay?"

"What're ya talkin' about, Keiko, you're the one who's gonna be with Urameshi, not us!"

"Kuwabara!"

After a mad rush of goodbyes, Yusuke and Keiko were gone, leaving Botan, Kuwabara and Kurama in the emptying departure lounge.

There was a long pause as the three watched the gate that the pair had just gone through. Finally Kurama turned to Botan. "Can you stay much longer?"

"Not very," Botan replied, sounding somewhat glum. "Koenma was going to the wedding anyway, so he sort of _had_ to let me come too… but he had to get back right after to plough through all his paperwork and I'm going to get in a lot of trouble as it is for staying in Human World for so long."

"That's a shame."

"I'm sure I'll be able to get back soon though!" she continued brightly as they left the lounge and made their way towards the main entrance of the airport.

Kuwabara grinned. "I bet - whaddaya have to do to get some time off there anyway? I bet I can think of-"

"Well! I hope Yukina doesn't hear you talking like that, Kuwabara!" Botan cut in snottily.

"'Course not! For Yukina, I'm a gentleman, got that?!"

"Hmph! And just why is Yukina so-?"

"-So you should be getting back to Spirit World around now, Botan?"

Botan stopped and glanced at Kurama as she realised that they were already outside. "Um, yes! That's right!" She looked around the busy car park. "I'll go and find someplace empty so people won't see me leaving. Give my love to Yukina and Genkai!" She waved at them both and headed off round the side of the building.

Kurama and Kuwabara left the car park and walked in silence for several blocks. Not exactly an awkward silence… just a silence. Finally Kuwabara spoke up. "Kinda weird seein' them go, right? I mean, That's Yusuke married, you know? With a missus… We're not little punks cuttin' class anymore…"

"You haven't been for some time," Kurama replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, I know. I guess this just kinda makes it final or somethin', y'know? It's like we grew up when we weren't lookin' or something."

Kurama nodded. Since he'd started his life as Shuichi, he'd realised how quickly a human being aged. In what had seemed like no time at all to him, he'd become a teenager. And then he'd grown up… now their friends were starting to get married. The saying was true. Life really _was_ quite short.

They continued for a while without talking until they reached the bus stop. "So Kurama…" Kuwabara began slightly mischievously. "What about you? You got some girl behind the scenes that you're gonna introduce us to anytime soon? Haven't seen ya chasin' after any skirts since we first met."

Kurama simply smiled. "That's right, Kuwabara. You haven't."

"Aww, come on! Don't tell me you don't like _some_one out there! Big world, and there's a lotta hot-"

"Kuwabara, as your friend I think it's only fair for me to tell you that you're starting to sound a lot like a middle school girl."

"Quit changin' the subject!"

"The bus is here."

"Hey man, if you're into guys I'm not gonna-"

"Kuwabara, the bus."

Seated near the back of the half-empty bus, Kuwabara persisted. "I mean it, man! I got your back! I ain't gonna judge, no sir, because I'm one of them Mr. Sensitive types, got it?"

Kurama laughed and shook his head. "I appreciate your support Kuwabara, but you're mistaken. If I decided to find a girlfriend, she would just become another person for me to keep secrets from. I just don't know if I could do that."

"I guess you're right… sucks for you, huh?"

"Yes. Sucks for me."

-…-

"Welcome home, boys."

"Heeey Yukina! Botan's already gone back to Spirit World, but she sends her love! So how are ya, Yukina, I've missed ya!"

Yukina giggled. "Kuwabara, you saw me this morning."

Kurama put Puu on the coffee table and made his way to one of the training rooms. As he'd hoped, he found Genkai there.

She didn't even need to look round to know he was behind her. "So they got their plane?"

"Yes. They said they'd call us when they arrive in Hong Kong… it's going to be quiet without him around… and they said they'd be back when they got tired of sightseeing. Knowing Yusuke, they could be gone quite a while."

Genkai nodded and stood up. "The temple has seemed empty as it is lately," she remarked as they both went back to the main room where Yukina and Kuwabara were.

"We do seem to be low on numbers," Kurama agreed. Lately the only regulars at the house had been Genkai, himself, Yukina, Kuwabara, Yusuke and Keiko. Even Botan hadn't been around as much lately, what with Yusuke's detachment from Spirit World after quitting or being fired as Spirit Detective (it really depended on whether you talked to Yusuke or Koenma). Botan's job didn't send her to see them much anymore. Of course, others dropped by occasionally, but for the most part, it was going to be quiet. "Botan had to get back to work right away. Still… it was nice of her and Koenma to turn up at the wedding. I'm sure they're very busy."

"Busy, schmizy, Kurama, it was Yusuke's wedding!" Kuwabara cut in as he saw Kurama and Genkai enter the room. "At least they had the manners to show up!"

Kurama frowned. "Well, to be honest I never really expected Hiei to-"

"He didn't even reply to his invitation! What, you think maybe he didn't have a pen or something?!"

"Well, I do doubt that he actually owns a pen," Kurama replied with a thoughtful smile. "But I just don't think he likes big crowds all that much…"

"Whatever, I got stuff to do. I'll check in tomorrow-"

"See you tomorrow, Kuwabara."

"Bye Yukina! I miss you already, my love!"

There was a long silence after Kuwabara left.

"Kuwabara says some very funny things," Yukina remarked with a smile. "He hadn't even left yet, and he said he already missed us! He must really like us!"

Kurama smiled nervously for a second before Genkai spoke. "You haven't seen him, then?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I only see him occasionally in passing when I'm visiting Demon World, but to be honest I think he's trying to gradually break ties with us."

"He doesn't like us…?" Yukina asked with a frown.

"That's not what I meant," Kurama assured her hurriedly. "I actually kind of think that he believes now that Yusuke's contract has been terminated, he has no further business with us. He's not the type to hang around… when he's not even sure if he is expected or wanted to stay."

Yukina looked at the floor. "That's so sad. It'd be nice to see him visit sometimes."

"Maybe you will."

Genkai coughed. "Yukina, didn't you say earlier that the bird bath needed fresh water?"

"Oh, yes! I haven't changed it yet. I'll do it now," Yukina replied quickly before leaving the room.

Genkai waited until she was positive that Yukina was out of earshot before turning to Kurama. "So he _has_ been dropping by the temple?"

"I think it's only fair to let you know who your visitors are. I happen to know that he comes here every Wednesday night at three in the morning. But he only really checks on Yukina and leaves," Kurama replied matter-of-factly.

"I see," Genkai said dryly. "So you _do_ see him more that you're letting on to the rest of us?"

Kurama shook his head. "He's only let me catch him once or twice… I think he believes it's easier for him this way, he doesn't have to talk to Yukina… I don't think he wants to face up to what he's eventually going to have to say to her. He has a big problem with it - I think he wants her to keep her fantasy of a perfect brother for as long as possible. It's shame that's holding him back."

For a while, Genkai didn't say anything. Finally she shrugged and walked out of the room. "It's none of our business what he decides," she said as she disappeared down the hallway.

"I know…" Kurama replied, though he wasn't sure if she'd heard him.

"Puu!"

He jumped and looked round at Puu, who had clearly decided that he'd been ignored for too long.

"Puu! Puuuu!"

"Well… at least it won't be _too _quiet while Yusuke's gone."

-…-

"Good morning, Sir."

"Back already?"

The black-haired woman nodded and tossed a disk to her boss. "No sweat. This is the data you need, and I've called some guys and they're comin' to install it later today along with the talismans."

"I hope you've done some background checking for these 'guys', Yura."

"Of course. I'll get in trouble too if this goes wrong, you know."

"Right." The man didn't trouble himself to continue the conversation, just started up what looked to be a highly complex computer system of some kind and put the disk into one of the many slots embedded in the desk. For a long time he just stared up at the large screen above them and tapped away at a keyboard. Then he stopped tapping and just stared at the screen, completely still apart from his eyes flickering as he took in the information.

Finally he spoke. "…Yura," he said levelly, sitting back but not looking away from what was on the screen.

"Sir?"

"This is the wrong disk."

Yura blinked rapidly for a second as what her boss had just said sank in. "W-what?! But Sir, I'm sure I went to the right place - took the right box-"

"This is very advanced technology…"

"-It was definitely labelled and I read it twice before I left-"

"Yura-"

"-I even checked to make sure it didn't need a second-"

"Yura. Shut up."

Yura fell silent as the man turned looked back at her. "This is highly advanced infrared technology… so highly advanced it's insane. We can still use this to our advantage. We'll just need to take a detour."

"Oh-"

"Yura, research room. Now. I need every A- or S-class sniper you can reel in, and _trust_. And I need them within twelve hours."

"Of course, Sir."

"Once this is installed and combined with the talismans I think we should have a fairly good setup. Just don't screw up again. You're a good girl, but I can't afford to allow you to jeopardise what I'm doing."

"Duly noted."

The man watched Yura leave before turning back to the screen. Finally he reduced the coding and brought up a case file entitled 'Yoko Kurama', flicking through it idly before stopping on a screen with several pictures. "I think it would be nice for him to have some familiar company while he's here anyway."

-…-

**Author's Note: **_The person I sometimes get to check my work is somewhat unreliable and so failed so actually proofread this chapter. So if anyone else spots any mistakes that I may have overlooked, please let me know. I pay heed to all reviews, and am open to suggestions or requests of **any kind** regarding the plot, pairings or character emphasis. I already have a good bit of it planned but I'm willing to make changes for people who take the time to read and review. After all, it's you who reads it. Many thanks for reading this chapter, I know it was a lot of talk and little action, so I'm grateful that you stuck around! This chapter might get edited a few times, but if it does you'll be informed in the subsequent chapters._

_Next Chapter: A flashback, angsty contemplations, and a little action. And Hiei. I don't need to tell you that they're all linked. Sorry about his absence in this one._


	2. Empathy Training

-1**3/11/06 - Author's Note: **_I've discovered a new and rather effective way of planning this fanfic. My sister and I, we tend to bounce ideas off one another when we're doing written work (she's currently working on a FFX Novelisation thing), and all I really needed to do was stick on a sound recorder and discuss this story. After we were done chatting, I played it back and realised that between us we'd come up with a lot of decent material. I'm a lot clearer on how I'm going to go about writing this fic now. Unfortunately any time I want to do some brainstorming for it now my sister also needs to be available… Maybe one day I'll upload the Mp3 files._

_This chapter's got some dense paragraphs at the start due to the lack of dialogue. Apologies. And this is my first shot writing from Hiei's point of view. I'm sorry in advance for the train wreck I'm probably about to make out of the most awesome character in the series. And there's grossness. Like, for a grand total of four lines._

-…-

**Chapter Two**

It was an accepted norm that animals didn't like Hiei. They generally didn't come within ten feet of him, especially wild ones. It wasn't something that bothered him that much, nor was it strange for him to be walking through dense woodland, like he was now, and hear nothing but the sound of his own footsteps on the damp soil. Maybe they smelled Evil, he thought idly, and ran for cover.

Patrol duty was long since over for him. He'd even carried on with it a little longer than he'd had to, not because it was something he enjoyed, but because he wondered what he'd do with himself after he was finished. Well, here he was. He'd seen Mukuro a lot, though he attempted to keep his visits as cold and businesslike as he could. However, Mukuro had always seen through the façade and they both knew it. He was beginning to run out of reasons to visit, and it still felt like a loss somehow to admit that he was there simply because he wanted to be. Visiting her was one of the few things that really gave much structure to his time. The other main one was checking in on Yukina. She hadn't seen him in three years, and she certainly didn't know that Hiei was her brother… but he made sure that he saw her at least once a week. He never stayed long, there was something weird even to him about being around her while she was asleep.

Once, while he was there he'd sat down on the end of her bed and carelessly, after several minutes he fell asleep.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

"_Hiei?"_

_Neither Hiei nor Yukina moved. Kurama went into the room quietly, set his glass down on Yukina's dressing table and gave Hiei a tentative poke. Silence. Kurama glanced nervously at Yukina, worried she'd wake up if he caused a greater disturbance. When he was sure that she was definitely still fast asleep, he shook his friend gently._

_After a few seconds Hiei made a relatively amusing snuffling noise before blinking up at the fox demon. He jumped when he realised what had happened but was quickly subdued by Kurama's hand on his shoulder._

"_Hiei-" he was about to ask him what he was doing, but it seemed like a stupid question, since he'd obviously come to see Yukina. After a second he tugged Hiei off the bed and half-dragged him out into the hallway, far enough away from Yukina's room that she wouldn't be woken up by the sound of them talking._

"_How long have you been here?"_

"_Well, I wouldn't know, I was asl-"_

"_Have you been hiding here for a long time?"_

"_Don't be ridiculous, I only stopped by the temple to see Yukina, I'm not hiding out in the basement if that's what you're worried about. Besides, what were **you** doing up and hanging round Yukina's room?"_

_Kurama shook his head hurriedly. "I was - I heard - …Hiei, you're more than welcome here - you don't have to sneak in at three in the morning to see her. You can come by in the day or even stay for a while."_

"_Sounds appealing,but I prefer my own system," Hiei replied bluntly. He turned and made for the door._

"_Hiei-"_

_The dark-haired demon paused._

"_I mean it. Genkai would be happy to have you here, especially if it brings you and Yukina closer together. Just think about it, alright?"_

_Hiei considered this for a moment before nodding that he would. After a second he lowered his gaze. "…Thanks," he said somewhat grudgingly, before opening the door and leaving quietly._

ooooooooooooooooooooo

He hadn't taken Kurama up on his offer, but he had continued his nighttime visits. Once or twice he and Kurama had crossed paths, and Hiei had begun to wonder if he was staying awake in a deliberate attempt to catch him. Actually, Kurama seemed to have been staying at the temple quite a lot…

Still, it didn't matter. Kurama had made no further attempts to persude him to come clean to Yukina. But now that things had 'settled down' somewhat, he was aware that Kurama was expecting him to do it sometime soon. Yusuke and Keiko had just gotten married, Kuwabara's life had pretty much gotten as good as it could get… The one who needed her peace now was Yukina. He knew that. But still had hadn't done anything about it. Maybe somewhere within him he was awaiting some great revelation that would somehow justify the past, help him to explain why he'd been silent for so long and allowed her to wait for him when he had no intention of ever telling her the truth. And all the while, he was making her wait longer, and digging the hole deeper.

He sighed and sat on the ground under a tree, lost in his own thoughts and not entirely sure what he was going to do next. He _could_ go back to the temple as Kurama had suggested… it would at least be something to do. But like his visits to Mukuro, he hated the idea of admitting that he was there because we wanted their company. He didn't even know why. Why did it somehow feel like it would be a knock to his pride?

He looked up suddenly at a curious clicking sound. There was a short pause in which everything fell completely still, deadly silent. Then, at some unknown signal, something shot out of a nearby tree towards him like a bullet. In one swift move he snatched it out of the air and looked down at it. He barely had time to register exactly what it was before several more bolted at him seemingly from all directions. Quickly he leapt to his feet, drew his sword and started slashing away at them until he became a black and white blur, dodging and cutting as shards of plastic and metal fell to the ground at his feet.

After nearly a minute of this Hiei became aware that this barrage might not let up anytime soon, and if he was honest he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up. He thought about locating the source of the attack and turning whoever was responsible into kebab cubes, but it seemed to be coming from all directions and it was all he could do to just work out where the next ten or so were coming from. All at the same damn time. He tried using his Jagan Eye to trace his attackers, but it was as if there were small ki signals coming from all over the forest. After several seconds he realised that they had been masked or weakened so he wouldn't notice their presence.

Finally, like a little black lightning bolt he jumped into a tree, the source of the nearest ki signal and encountered another demon there. Barely taking time to notice much more than a mop of green hair and some kind of souped-up gun contraption, he cut the sniper into several places before he shot to the next, taking out as many as he could safely manage while avoiding their apparently plentiful ammo.

He was starting to wonder how long it would be before his attackers ran out of things to fire at him when he felt a short, sharp pain in the back of his neck - someone had been behind him and - how had he not noticed…? The onslaught stopped. The pain was gone as suddenly as it came. The forest took flight.

**-…-**

"Kuwabara speakin'."

"Hey, Kuwabara, still alive without me around?"

Kuwabara almost dropped his cellphone. "Urameshi! You guys arrived?"

"Well we weren't planning to fly round in circles forever. How's it going?"

"It's okay, I guess. Kinda quiet. You get checked in?"

"Keiko's talking to the receptionist now… The flight sucked, man, turbulence all the way, I had to hold Keiko's hair back and everything."

Kuwabara screwed up his face. "Thanks for the info."

"Nothing new or exciting at home?"

"Why would there be? You're not here to cause trouble! You should take trips more often man, I think you're jinxin' us."

"You're not funny!"

"Yusuke, I've got our keys!" Keiko's voice could be heard distantly from Yusuke's end of the line.

"Hey, Kuwabara, gotta dash, we're checked in! I'll call again soon."

"Alright - later!"

Kuwabara flipped his cellphone shut and put it back in his pocket. "Hey, Yusuke and Keiko're at their hotel! They're going to their room now."

"Now Kuwabara, I'm sure Keiko wouldn't appreciate-"

"You are sicker than you let us think, Foxboy!"

"Sorry, I was just-"

"Appreciate what, Kurama?" Yukina asked suddenly, from her place on a little wooden stool near the corner of the room. Both boys looked round at her before looking at each other.

Genkai walked in, saving them all a little embarrassment. "So Yusuke's officially out of the country. Poor, poor China…" she said with a smile.

"Hehe, got that right!"

There was a pause in which they all just looked at one another.

"I'm… bored," Kuwabara said suddenly, and with a depressed sigh all their cheerful dispositions wilted.

**-…-**

"Any trouble?"

Yura shook her head. "It was harder than they thought it'd be but… they got him. He wasted like six of them before he'd go down though."

"Well… they won't need paid then."

The two walked down a wide hallway until they reached a set of stairs, Yura a few steps ahead as they headed underground. They made their way to a lower hallway and continued, "He's a hostile little bitch, though. The drugs wore off about half an hour ago and he's been threatening me ever since. Here," she added offhandedly as she gestured to a deep recess in the length of the hallway, about eight squre feet, apparently completely unguarded, separated from the rest of the hallway by nothing more than what looked like a white chalk line and some hovering talismans. Near the furthest wall back, a pair of scarlet eyes glared back at them.

The taller man didn't look impressed. "Huh… All that grief… I expected him to be…"

"More powerful?"

"No… taller."

"Five foot four, sir."

"Are you two finished?"

The two glanced round at him as if they'd forgotten he was actually there for a moment. Yura's boss chuckled. "Now, now… Remember your manners, won't you Hiei? You're a guest here, after all."

"Tried to get out a few times, but I think he learnt his lesson pretty quickly," Yura continued nonchalantly. She turned to look at Hiei and smiled sweetly. "_I_ can cross this line! Can _you_?"

She waved her hand in the air in front of her over the white line, but in a sudden flash of scorching white light she gave a bone-chilling scream and drew back quickly, staring in horror at the twitching red and black mess that was once her left hand. Most of the skin and flesh had melted instantly, and clung to the bones of her hand in a sickening, charred liquid scab. She just stood there and stared at it for several seconds, shaking, before she shrieked again and ran for the stairs, almost tripping over herself several times and sobbing hysterically as she went. The sound of her screams still resonated from the stone walls after she was gone.

The two that remained regarded one another in silence. "Well then," the taller man said. "She'll know in future not to tease the hostages, won't she?"

"I can't imagine who you're trying to lure here by putting me in this stupid box. It'll be several weeks before anyone realises I'm gone. And I warned your silly little assistant that I'd kill her if she came anywhere near me. She got off lightly," Hiei replied unapologetically.

"I won't be making that mistake." His captor pointed to the chalky line. "That is no ordinary demon ward, as you've probably already worked out by seeing my assistant crossing it - much to her regret, I'm sure. That's the most advanced infrared technology designed in all three worlds. Installed alongside demon magic too. Doesn't look like much, does it?"

Hiei didn't look overly impressed, and not just because he didn't know what 'infrared' meant. "Please. I could level this entire building. And I plan to."

"Ah, yes, your little dragon-summoning trick. I suppose it's worth a try, isn't it…?" With a smirk the man turned and walked away leaving Hiei to contemplate the repercussions of breaking out of this ward by simply overloading it, and the implications of the word 'hostage'.

_Well_, he thought irritably, as he glared angrily at the attachment on his belt where his sword ought to have been. The bastards had confiscated it after they'd knocked him out. _Now I know how Yukina felt in that ridiculous human's house…_

He considered this idea for several moments in silence.

The victorious captor paused on the stone steps that led to ground level, smirking as the basement filled with a yellow light before falling back into darkness once more. He shook his head and continued up the steps, chuckling. "Totally predictable."

**-…-**

**6/11/06 - Author's Note: **_Still not a lot has happened. WOE. Most of you have probably worked out why everyone but Hiei's able to cross the line from what written there, either that or I'm just weird. I really, really wish I could make this story more exciting, I'm aware that it's a bit dialogue heavy at the minute. As I said before though, let me know using REVIEWS about what you want to happen in this story, I am more than willing to deviate from my original plans to give readers what they'd most want to read. I'd also like to know if you'd prefer shorter, less detailed chapters. Am I going too out of my way to explain everything? I think so. Let me know what YOOOU think!_

_**Next Chapter: **Kurama has an unexpected visitor, and I stop having to use clumsy-sounding allusions and pronouns to describe our villain-type character. Hooray!_

_**ALSO: **The title of this story is likely to change very soon, and the summary already has. 'Dominos' is only a working title until something better hits me with regards to the route the story is taking._


End file.
